In a letter sent to Kiwibank CEO Steve Jurkovich and board chair Jon Hartley today, we have called on Kiwibank to re-instate the use of cheques as a method of payment to lessen the risk of its senior customers being exposed to the Covid-19 virus.

International experience shows that the people most at risk from the Covid 19 virus currently sweeping the world are those in the over 60s age group.

Kiwibank’s decision to stop accepting cheques has resulted in many of the bank’s senior customers requiring assistance from family or friends to process digital payments.

Alternatively they need to withdraw cash in order to deposit that into the accounts of people they wish to pay.

That requirement forces them to mix with many people when they travel to a centre where they can access the bank branches necessary to undertake those transactions, and this exposes them unnecessarily to the risk of catching the virus.

The letter calls on Kiwibank to reinstate the use of cheques as a payment method for at least the next 12 months starting immediately.

The bank needs to demonstrate its commitment to the safety of those senior customers, the majority of whom were founding customers of the bank when it was established.

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